Phonetics: /eə/

In British English the phonetic symbol /eə/ corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "hair" and "wear". It is a long vowel sound, this is called a diphthong. 

Some common words which practice the pronunciation of /eə/ include the following:

• with "ar":  bare - care - dare - fare - hare - rare - scare - share - spare - square;
• with "air":  air - chair - fair - hair - pair - stairs;
• with "ear":  bear - swear - tear - wear;
• homophones: air/heir - bear/bare - hair/hare - pear/pair - their/there/they're - there's/theirs - where/wear/ware (as in software).

When using words containing this vowel sound, Spanish speakers tend to confuse it with /ɪə/ or /ɜ:/
i.e. without practice, they tend not to distinguish between "beer" and "bear". And tear vs tear really irritates them.

Written by NativeEnglish

Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.